Wake Forest Local Patient & Stakeholder Committee (Wake LPSC)
LPSC Lead
Deb Burcombe
Deb Burcombe is the Program Director of Outreach for the Wake Forest Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention. Prior to moving to North Carolina with her husband four years ago, Deb ran a non-profit organization in Utah for 21 years that advocated for accessible health care for the state’s mentally and medically fragile older adults and people with intellectual disabilities. Deb was responsible for securing the funding for the “Music and Memory Program” and was able to successfully implement the program in all 110 long-term care facilities throughout the state. Her personal and professional passion is the advocacy for individuals who are not able to advocate for themselves.
Chair
Alyssa Szymanski Botte
Alyssa Szymanski Botte serves as a Licensed Professional Counseling Associate in the Memory Counseling Program at the Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention. In her role she leads individual and family/couple counseling sessions for dementia-related disease. In addition she also leads group counseling sessions for caregivers of those with dementia related disease and couples in the early stages of dementia.
Committee Members
Karen Appert
For the past 24 years, Karen Appert has been the owner of Appert Marketing Group, a marketing, public relations and advertising firm based in Winston Salem, NC. This summer (2019) she will be graduating with a Master’s degree in Gerontology. Karen and her husband have been the primary care partners for her mother, Jean Mikel (also a member of the Wake Forest LPSC) who was diagnosed with dementia in 2008.
Jean Mikel
Wake Forest is very fortunate to have Jean Mikel serve on our LPSC, representing those who have been diagnosed with dementia. She was diagnosed with dementia in 2008, after having first been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1992, and proudly shares that she won’t let either chronic illness define who she is or how she lives. She remains happy, positive, social and outgoing and lives independently in an apartment two blocks from her daughter (Karen Appert).
Carol Henry, RN
When Carol Henry, RN was only eight years old, she knew that she wanted to become a nurse so that she could help people. This dream became a reality as she began her nursing career at Johns Hopkins Hospital and then worked as a nursing educator at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and as a community health nurse at Winston-Salem State University. She is now retired and serves as the primary care partner for her husband.
Carol Penney
Working with Kindermusik International for 35 years, Carol Penney knows first-hand the value of music both to the young and to the young at heart. She spearheaded a program at a Winston Salem adult day center that brings toddlers and those with dementia together to enjoy a music-and- movement-based experience. She has also been able to utilize the same concepts with her husband who is living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Lanie Pope
A familiar face to the viewers throughout the greater Winston Salem area, Lanie Pope has served as the chief meteorologist for the NBC affiliate, WXII for the past 18 years. Throughout her career she has been a champion for keeping her community safe from weather dangers, however her greatest passion remains as a tireless advocate for families’ and care partners of those living with dementia. Having lost both her mother and her father-in-law to Alzheimer’s disease she fully understands the everyday challenges faced by care partners.
David Sevier
Those who know the husband and wife team of David and Catherine Harvey Sevier appreciate the term “dynamic duo”! While David Sevier was serving in the US Navy, he developed health policy for the Secretary of Defense and US Congress. He then directed the creation of the US military’s health care system (TRICARE) that serves over nine million service members, retirees and their families. After his retirement he directed a Commission to draft a 20-year health plan for the US Dept of Veterans Affairs.
Catherine Sevier, RN, DrPH
Catherine Sevier, RN, DrPH, has an extensive background in clinical care, academic cancer center leadership and health policy development. She served as Executive Vice President (Community Programs and Publications)/ Chief Public Health Officer for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in Washington, DC, where she led ADA’s focus on the Preventive Health Partnership, a joint initiative with the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association. She is currently the AARP-NC state president. Together they manage a $1+ million Duke Endowment grant to develop an online platform for individuals to “own their own health, while planning for care in advance.”
Sharon Fryar Height, EdD
As the primary care partner to her mother, LPSC member Sharon Fryar Height, EdD, is passionate about improving support systems for family and friends who are caring for those with dementia. She has enjoyed a career as a United States Army Captain (ret) and has earned her doctorate of education which she has utilized in various health-related initiatives throughout North Carolina. She is quick to add that her most fulfilling role has been caring for her mother.